newsy!

now, you know i've occasionally blogged about politics, but i'm not the sort of news-watch blogger so many of my companions are. (who are my companions? stay tuned, in an upcoming post i will reveal all!) sure, i get the newspaper. but i read the comics and the "lifestyle" section, and do the crossword. MAYBE the local news. but i don't have a tv, and don't read internet news. i guess the sorts of things i find interesting are just a "huh," sort of thing. but here is a news article i can relate to:

an hydrangea problem

if you don't feel like clicking on the link, here are key quotes from the new york times:
"The bride, Elana Glatt, says her florist committed a series of faux pas at her wedding on Aug. 11. In the most “egregious,” Ms. Glatt says in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, the florist substituted pastel pink and green hydrangeas for the dark rust and green hydrangeas she had specified for 22 centerpieces."

"He said that he and his wife, Paula, had done their best to match the color of the hydrangeas with a picture Ms. Glatt had given them, but explained to her that because of the vagaries of nature and the lighting at the reception, the colors might not look exactly the same."

"“The use of predominantly pastel centerpieces had a significant impact on the look of the room and was entirely inconsistent with the vision the plaintiffs had bargained for,” Ms. Glatt, a lawyer who practices under the name Elana Elbogen, said in the lawsuit, which she filed on behalf of herself, her husband and her mother-in-law, Tobi Glatt, who paid for the flowers."

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now, obviously, i have some pretty strong opinions on this, since it's something that comes up in my day-to day life. it's so wierd to me to have things i deal with at work written up in a newspaper- i guess cops and politicians and lawers and such are used to having the details of their careers written in newspapers. but it's not often you can say, "goddess, why do brides always want hydrangeas? and what florist would promise to find two tone ones?" the color problem is something i often deal with in corsages- she has a pink dress, can i have a pink rose corsage? well, yes, but you can't dye the flowers to match your shoes. (i said that to a bride once, and she was really offended. i felt bad) i think the most important thing is coming to an understanding with your client- know what it is that they like about a certain arrangement= is it the two toneness, the burgandy, the hydrangea, what? that way you can substitute, say, green and burgandy callas and spider mums if the hydrangeas are all pink. did they get samples in for her, i wonder? we try to show our clients how they will be disapointed before the big day comes.

we actually did a wedding recently with big color variations. the bride wanted all orange and white flowers. and ch had, without thinking, sold her all hard-to-get or delicate flowers, like dahlias and ranunculus. i think the bridesmades and the wedding decorations had orange alstro, daisy mums, and ranunculus in them. and they were ALL dramatically different shades of orange. the alstro was basically yellow, the mums were a rusty brown, the ranunculus was ORANGE ORANGE. i was really worried about them all not matching at all, until the orange dahlias came, and they were a bittersweet, really red orange, and that made it a full spectrum of orange, and like we meant it, and it was very pretty and fall, esp. ch said when held in front of the bridesmaid's pale-coral-y dresses.

we also, it must be admitted, only take on brides that we like. friends, neighbors, customers we have experience with. rosexpressions, catering to the budget bride and the lowfrills committment ceremonies. it just fits with our shop. we're not cheap or cheap looking. but we're not snobby, we work with you, and we understand small. the shop, it's rather small itself.